Most restaurants have exhaust hoods over grills. The hoods collect fats, oils and grease and other compounds—that are produced during cooking. The hoods have a variety of structures for removing the gunk from the air that flows through the hood—filters of various descriptions, traps, etc., and as would be expected, the hoods require frequent cleaning to keep the hoods clean. Indeed, many cities, towns and municipalities mandate regular and frequent cleaning of kitchen hoods. When the hoods are properly maintained the effluent from the hoods, both airborne and water borne, is minimized. However, when a hood is improperly maintained and not regularly cleaned there can be a significant amount of compounds released into both the air and water.
Given the demand for frequent cleaning of hoods, there are many companies that specialize in cleaning commercial kitchen hoods. In a typically cleaning process, the cleaning company shows up at the restaurant during non-working hours and isolates the hood with a plastic tarp that is attached to the hood and which serves to funnel the fats, oils, greases, water, degreasing compounds, surfactants, etc. that are generated by or used in the cleaning process—collectively, “effluent” into a drain. The tarp is located below the hood so that the effluent does not end up on the grills. During the cleaning process, fats, oils and greases that are accumulated in the hood and its filters is removed with a variety of techniques and compounds, and with the use of pressure washing wands. The waste products flow with water and degreasing compounds down the funneled tarp and down a drain, which usually includes some kind of grease trap. But unless the drain is fully equipped to remove the waste products from the effluent stream before they enter the sewer system, a significant amount of oils and greases thus enter into the municipal sewer system. While most municipal waste water treatment systems are equipped to deal with fats, oils and greases in effluent, these compounds do result in increased costs to everyone involved.
The present invention is directed to a relatively light weight, portable filter system that is especially adapted for use in the commercial kitchen cleaning services described above. The invention is defined by a container adapted for holding a filter and which has a drain opening that may be connected to the usual drain. A filter is suspended in the interior of the container with a special structure that allows for quick and easy insertion of the filter and removal of the filter when it is spent and the top of the filter is open to define a relatively large opening. In use, the tarp that is used to isolate a hood during cleaning is tucked into the opening into the filter to define a flow path that effluent that is removed from the hood during cleaning, the cleaning fluids (water, degreasers, etc.) are channeled into the filter. The material used for the filter is selected for the particular type of cleaning that is being done, and in any event removes the desired compounds from the effluent stream. The liquids flowing through the filter flow into the container, out the drain opening and into the drain (or where ever the effluent properly is intended).
It is possible and even likely that at some time in the near future, some municipalities and regulatory authorities such restaurant inspection authorities and health departments, etc., will begin making routine cleaning of restaurant hoods mandatory. This would, among other things, increase the frequency at which hoods are cleaned. While this would be a desirable result from many different perspectives, it emphasizes the need for apparatus such as that described herein to control and minimize effluent that results from such cleaning activities.
While the invention is described herein in terms of its use with kitchen hood cleaning, it will be appreciated that the invention may be used in any number of settings and for cleaning any number of devices, including for example mobile truck cleaning services, home cleaning services and the like. All such devices are sometimes referred to herein as “fixtures.”